Leicester hope to sign Yakubu on a permanent basis after it emerged they agreed to pay £1m to take him on loan for the rest of the season.

After parting with such a hefty loan fee, and seeing the Everton striker respond with four goals in eight appearances so far, the npower Championship promotion contenders are ready to bid £5m to make it a permanent transfer in the summer.

'I'm quite sure that if we go up, he will stay, and I know he wants to,' said manager Sven Goran Eriksson.

In-form: Yakuba (centre) has notched four goals in eight games at Leicester